It is the cornerstone of every fashionable diet, from Atkins to Dukan. The problem with a low-carbohydrate regime, though, is sticking to it.

Banishing bread, cakes and biscuits is bad enough, but once you rule out potatoes, pasta and rice, it doesn’t leave much to get your teeth into — or even to go with proteins such as fish and meat.

Low-carb breads, which are beginning to make their mark, could be the answer to the hunger pangs, nutritionists and bakers say. Waitrose launches its first low-carb loaf this month while, on a more humble scale, a former City trader has

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Michelin-starred chef test Marcus Wareing tries it

You can’t judge mass-produced bread by the standards of the artisan loaves that Marcus Wareing serves at his restaurant at the Berkeley Hotel in Central London.

And LivLife isn’t the first to augment the four essentials of bread-making (water, flour, yeast and salt) with an additional 20 ingredients. However, the two-Michelin star chef is unlikely to add this low-carb offering to his bread basket any time soon. "It looks good in the packaging, with all the nuts and seeds showing through, and it smells pretty decent, but taste-wise it doesn’t deliver," he said.

"It’s very bland and chewy, as it is undercooked, and it doesn’t tear so much as stretch, which is really off-putting. The low-carb label will certainly attract people, but only those who value function over taste."